The increasing development of communication systems of one form or another and the infrastructure and expense that is required to maintain them has motivated the service providers of those systems to provide various “added value” services. Thus, it is known for cable television (CATV) providers to allow subscribers to send SMS messages via the CATV system. One example is disclosed in WO 9856181 entitled “System at telecommunications network” (Tegler et al.) assigned to Telia AB of Sweden and published Dec. 10, 1998. This reference relates to an interactive broadband service such as digital transmission of video channels, specifically using the GSM-system (Global System of Mobile Communication-system). By way of example, there is described a service which requires low capacity in uplink and that utilizes the SMS-function in GSM. Interactive traffic between the transmitting and receiving equipment is managed by an interactive center, which is arranged to execute the desired broadband service. The interactive centre is also coupled to a distributive centre for distribution of the broadband signals on the telecommunications network.
Such an arrangement is typical of known systems that allow a TV set-top box to send SMS messages via the cellular network. Some digital TV operators provide a service, wherein a TV subscriber can send SMS messages via his/her TV set to a mobile subscriber.
This may typically be implemented by communicating with an SMS gateway that receives the SMS messages from the TV subscribers and sends them through the existing Short Messaging Service Center (SMSC) machines on each of the wireless operator's networks. This is similar to the ability to send SMS messages from a PC, by using a web site that offers this kind of service.
Spell-check programs are known in the field of text-processing that are able to highlight misspellings, offer a list of suggested alternatives upon selection of an incorrect word and replace the incorrect word with a selected alternative.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,158 (Egozi et al.) issued Oct. 2, 2001 to Babylon, Ltd. and entitled “Recognition and Translation System and Method” discloses a method and system of recognition and translation, stored on a digital storage device with an operating system and running computer applications, such as a personal computer. Input by a computer user is recognized and output is transmitted to the user. The system recognizes characters displayed on the output device of the digital storage device, and translates phrases contiguous to and including the phrase upon which the system is activated and translates words from one written phrase set to a second written phrase set. Such a system is particularly adapted to be operated under a Microsoft Windows environment but there is no suggestion to provide such a system for use with a CATV infrastructure. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation, Inc., Redmond USA.
It would thus provide an expanded and useful service to allow SMS and other messages to be input to a TV set-top box and to be spell-checked or translated. [The prior art makes no provision for such a service.